Kyle Yule: Five teenagers jailed for knife attack murder

Five teenagers who murdered a 17-year-old found dying in a friend's front garden have been jailed.

Kyle Yule died from five stab wounds after being chased from a car as rival gangs clashed in Gillingham in October.

Victor Maibvisira, 19, Jordan Dania, 16, Shezakia Daley, 17, Ephrain Akinwunmi-Streets, 17, and Tyler Ralph, 17, were found guilty on Friday.

At Maidstone Crown Court Maibvisira was given a life sentence and told he would serve a minimum of 24 years in prison.

Dania, Daley, Akinwunmi-Streets and Ralph were also given life sentences.

Judge Adele Williams said they would all spend at least 16 years in custody, to be served in youth detention centres until they reach the age of 21.

Kyle Yule was set on by a group of teenagers

Music videos

After the five were convicted, people who knew them in Gillingham told BBC South East Today that "drill music" videos showing three of the defendants had been uploaded to YouTube.

Prosecution notes gave the nicknames for Maibvisara as "V", or "Vee", while Akinwunmi-Streets was known as Veiz, or HB, or HBK - meaning "heartbreaker" - and Daley was simply referred to by his friends as "S".

One of the videos, produced by Innacity UK, named Veedee as the vocal master.

The other video credited Veedee, HB and S.

While Maibvisara features in the videos with his face clearly visible, others are seen wearing a mask and a hood and cannot be identified.

The BBC understands the videos were uploaded in February and April while the five were awaiting trial.

Lyrics include several references to swords and knives.

Police and lawyers involved in the case have not yet commented.

One of the videos named Veedee as the vocal master and another video credited Veedee, HB and S

A spokesman for Innacity UK said: "Given the current climate of the violence in the UK, we have therefore removed all content/videos associated with these individuals from our YouTube channel.

"Innacity UK will now look into monitoring any future clients who are currently on trial or who have been associated with any heinous acts of crime.

"We would also like to send our deepest condolences and apologies to the family who has been affected by this video."

The company is looking at running workshops with inner city London youths to help to occupy them and keep young adults off the streets, the spokesman added.

'Senseless ruthless killing'

During the court hearing, jurors heard the gang of rival teenagers set on Kyle "like vultures" during a "revenge attack" on 6 October.

The 17-year-old was stabbed five times after he was chased from a parked car and died on the operating table in the early hours of the next morning.

The killing followed months of tit-for-tat attacks between teenagers, the jury was told.

The judge warned the teenagers they may never be released.

She said: "This was a revenge attack. It was a senseless, ruthless and calculated killing, for which not one of you has at any stage shown any sign of remorse."

Victor Maibvisira admitted fighting with Kyle, but denied stabbing him

During their evidence, Maibvisira and one of the 17-year-olds blamed each other for the killing.

The older teenager admitted having a fist fight with Kyle that night, but said he was not carrying a knife.

The 19-year-old was described by the other's barrister as "a controlling and manipulative individual" who would "do anything to save [his] own skin".

He accused Maibvisira, of St John's Road, Gillingham, of threatening to stab people throughout the summer of 2017.

Maibvisira and the other defendants, from Gillingham, Sittingbourne, Croydon, and Stevenage in Hertfordshire, were also found guilty of violent disorder.

After they were convicted Judge Adele Williams lifted reporting restrictions banning the naming of the under-18s "in the interests of open justice".

Kyle's mother, Nikki Yule, told the defendants during the sentencing: "The night you took my beautiful, loved son ruined mine and my children's lives forever.

"Kyle would do anything for anyone. He was loving, kind-hearted, warm, funny, handsome and full of life.

"He was the one everyone went to if they needed a hug."

'Former friends'

During the court case, jurors heard the trouble between the group and Kyle's friends started after a push bike was stolen.

In the weeks leading up to Kyle's death, the group tried to assault him and his friend in a series of incidents around Gillingham.

Det Ch Insp Ivan Beasley said: "These were two separate groups of former friends who fell out over something as small as a push bike and the defendants' response was to attack a young man with knives."

He said they behaved "in an appalling manner with no regard for his life".